Pain and Circumstance
by rhead-a-holyc
Summary: When Sirius arrived, he had just been another injured stranger. It had been Sirius' intention to leave.


**Quidditch League - Semi Finals : Caerphilly Catapults**

 **BEATER 2: Supernatural: Carry On My Wayward Son — Kansas**

 **[word] Circumstance**

 **[word] Rotation**

 **[quote] 'This need to prove that we are not the worst of ourselves can sometimes make us better people.' — Before Mars, Emma Newman**

* * *

He left like a thief, quietly at the dead of the night. Not a wand nor candle had been lit since everything had been planned to perfection in the weeks prior.

He knew it would make him look guilty, even if he _was_ innocent, but there was nothing more for it. Everyone believed the accusations and lies. It wasn't just circumstance, it was the wrong timing – the wrong roll of the die.

For him.

There was certainly someone that benefitted from this, from burning the walls that held their family tree. The charm's counter was Light Magic, or Kreacher would have been able to stop the blaze. Whether that was his brother, or his parents, or even one of his many cousins who benefitted, Sirius didn't know. All he knew was that he had to leave, he had to escape his family, or he would never be released from the feeling of Dark Magic washing over him – singing to his very blood.

It was dark and addicting, and Sirius could feel the insanity that clung to it – that threatened to cling and fester on him if he gave it the chance. He could end up like Bellatrix, who had been exposed to young, with more than a mild case of insanity; or he could end up like his mother – distant and dependant on the magic to the point where there was little other magic she could perform.

Trunk shrunken in the pocket of his robes and wand gripped tightly in his other hand, Sirius hurried down the stairs and disappeared with a quiet _pop_.

 **…oOo…**

Remus always liked leaving tracking the cats down for last. They rarely stayed home for longer than dinner, but he knew his mother enjoyed knowing that they were still healthy and well.

He was climbing the tree to fetch the last of the cats – a small tabby that hated heights but always found his way into trees – when a loud _pop_ nearly startled him off the tree. He grabbed the nearest branch, and the tabby cat yowled as the branch it sat on trembled.

The groans that came from below the tree had him abandoning the cat (that found its own way down moments later!) for whichever person had probably been blind enough to walk into the tree. The missing fingernails and skin had Remus pausing for a long moment, before deciding to take the injured stranger to his home. He could call the ambulance after, if it was necessary, but the injuries _weren't_ from walking into a tree.

He hoped his mother noticed that _before_ he got grounded for life. Remus had already been suspended from school because the words of _one_ person didn't hold up against the words of a bunch of people. It was a stupid rule, but Remus had also been daft for getting caught by it for the _third_ time.

He would get them back. Eventually.

(He hoped.)

Remus grunted as he shifted the nearly unconscious man into a standing position, but it would be awkward if anyone were to see him carrying an unconscious man in his arms with a cat walking beside them.

He snorted at the thought of them thinking he was offering a human sacrifice to get his revenge on his school bullies. Remus would only offer one of his bullies as a sacrifice, not innocents – but they didn't know that.

"Mum! I found an injured person while fetching Alice," Remus yelled as soon as he passed the doorway. The rummaging in the kitchen ceased immediately.

"Remus… you really need to stop picking up injured people like you pick up stray pets. I don't mind, but it really isn't good for you." She nevertheless cleared a path for him to half-carry, half-drag the man into the guest bedroom. "Do you have any idea how he ended up injured like this?"

Hope was already reaching for the disinfectant but offered Remus a glance to reply as he grabbed the gauze from one of the drawers. He shook his head.

"All I heard was a 'pop' and he was under the tree." Remus shrugged. "It doesn't look like he ran into the tree, and I don't think he was climbing the tree after me either."

Hope gave Remus a look that said a lot about what she thought of his rendition of events.

 **…oOo…**

The man woke the next day while Remus was changing his bandages. His attempt at jumping out of the bed resulted only in him hissing in pain when the bandages closest to his wound were ripped from his body. Remus offered him an unimpressed look.

"If you try to run away before my mum gets back, I _will_ knock you out again."

The man sank into the bed and yelped when Remus started cleaning his wound. It was healing faster than Remus had expected it to, but Remus knew it was still painful. He'd had more experience than he was willing to admit.

"How did you get these wounds?" Remus asked, feeling the stranger's stare as he worked.

The man gave a half-shrug. "Ran away from home. Had to leave."

"I thought I heard voices. You poor boy!" Hope exclaimed. "I had been wondering if there were any relatives I needed to phone, but it looks like you'd rather avoid them. No matter, Remus is going to be home for the next few weeks, you can keep him company until you figure out what you're going to do."

The man looked startled at the offer and nodded meekly. "I'd like that."

"That's settled then. What's your name?"

"Sirius."

 **…oOo…**

Sirius followed Remus like a shadow, something that would usually have annoyed him greatly, but it kept his bullies away. Remus didn't see hide or hair of the tag-team of bullies. The relaxed conversation that followed had Remus and Sirius asking each other random questions as they went about their day – both stayed away from questions about their family. They rotated around the tree as the day passed them by, moving into the shade once the glare of the sun was too fierce.

Until the day that Sirius had decided that it was time to move on. He'd announced it during breakfast, as suddenly as mysteriously as he had appeared. Sirius had claimed the morning to pack the few belongings he had managed to own in the few weeks he had stayed with them, and Remus had gone for a walk around the neighbourhood to escape the heavy atmosphere.

Remus thought that even his mother had looked a bit upset, but she had accepted Sirius' decision.

Remus hadn't.

Somehow, he had begun to believe that Sirius staying with them would be permanent; that their companionship would extend into the distant forever.

"Without your little guard dog today, huh, Lupin?"

Remus froze, taking in his surroundings for the first time. He usually managed to avoid these kinds of situations – a dark alley while being surrounded by more people than he could possible fight off. If any of them got injured it would be he that had instigated it; but if he was injured, it would simply be self-defence.

"Don't worry, we'll make up for the lost time."

Despite everything, Remus still fought back. He still somehow believed it was ridiculous that anyone believed that a single boy would pick a fight with a group of six burly boys. He also knew that he couldn't simply lie down and take their beating.

That was probably the reason they kept coming back, but Remus knew he couldn't allow himself to be a push-over ever again.

"Remus?"

There was a pause before a gust of air blew above him. The raining punches and kicks stopped, and Remus allowed himself to look in the direction of the voice. His sight was blurry, but he thought that was Sirius – probably the only person who would come to his defence at a time like this.

Remus knew his mother was going to kill him if he let Sirius get injured again, right after he had managed to recover.

 **…oOo…**

Remus didn't know how he managed to get home, but he could feel two pairs of hands tending to his wounds instead of only his mother's.

"Dad?"

The hands tending to his arm tightened on a bruise and made Remus wince before they relaxed.

"No, dear. Sirius is helping. He's the one who found you."

Remus tried to sit up but was pushed back down by both pairs of hands. "I thought Sirius was leaving? He should have been gone by now?"

The body on his right let out a huff of breath. "That's what you're worried about after nearly being beaten to a pulp? As if I could just leave with you in this state."

"Sirius refused to leave your side for longer than it takes him to shower. If you try really hard, I'm sure you'd still be able to smell him," Hope teased. She patted Remus' arm and rose from her side of the bed. The curtains were drawn closed a moment later, and Remus finally attempted to open his eyes.

Sirius' affronted expression greeted him. "I do _not_ stink."

"Like a wet dog," Remus confirmed with a half-smile. Sirius' expression turned horrified.

"Now that I'm a permanent resident, I reserve the right to use the bathroom first in the mornings! _Wet dog!_ " Sirius scowled in good humour.

At Remus's glance, Hope nodded and smiled at her son.

"He's decided to stay."

"I'm not going to let you ruin all my hard work by getting beat up again. You really are terrible at fighting back." Sirius smirked.

 **…oOo…**

Sirius stared at the robes he had been found in; they still had flecks of blood and probably bits of old skin clinging to it. His trunk was still in his pocket, as was his wand. Both were the only things that still tied him to the Wizarding World, and his _family_.

He took a quick glance at the door and slid the wand from his pocket.

The warmth that he felt holding his wand didn't compare to the warmth and acceptance he felt with the Lupins. They weren't magical – they were muggles, but more human than his family had ever been.

It wasn't even a decision.

He snapped the piece of wood, and it came apart more easily than he had expected it to. The pieces were quickly stowed back into his pocket. He'd get rid of the robes soon. He didn't need them anymore.

He was happy with the Lupins.

He was happy _without_ magic.


End file.
